The Will of Fire burned bright in members of the Sarutobi clan and the entire village knew this as fact. The strong determination to protect the village and it's people was engrained in each and every Sarutobi from the time he was a small child. Mitsuo knew this very well, and he also knew that the other villagers looked to members of the Sarutobi clan in times of strife and turmoil for strength. He knew that one day they would look to him for that strength and that was why he trained as hard as he did.

He looked out at the training field with a look of determination, his Tanto close at hand. He wanted to make his Father proud. His father had tought him to use his Katon first, teaching him to mould the fire chakra inside of him. He taught him his first ever Katon technique, Katon: Kasumi Enbu, after a long and intense training session where Mitsuo had almost passed out several times from the gas being trapped in his throat before he could exhale it. When he finally mastered the technique his father was proud of him and he counted it as a great personal victory.

He also wanted to make his master, Master Hiroshi, proud. Master Hiroshi was kind enough to take him under his wing for no reason other than the fact that he was a kind man. Master Hiroshi tought him everything he knew about Kenjutsu, even teaching him how to use his Fūton for the first time with the hope that eventually he would use it to enhance his Kenjutsu by sharpening or elongating his blade. One day he would master this Jutsu for his master, and when they fought in the future, Master Hiroshi would be truly proud of his student from the Hidden Leaf.

He would make his sensei, Uzumaki Takeshi, proud. The once silitary shinobi who was kind enough to take Mitsuo under his wing and allow him to join his squad. A shinobi who would always have the deepest respect of the young Sarutobi as he continued along his path. Mitsuo would stop at nothing to make his sensei proud.

Mitsuo smiled and picked up a leaf, easily igniting it with his fire chakra. He smiled at the ease of the action and then began to become more serious, removing his cloak and shirt and moving towards the area he had set aside to train. He had set up five dummy targets in a clearing in the southern forest outside of the Hidden Leaf and moved to stand directly in the middle of them, readying himself for the training ahead of him by taking an offensive tanto stance.

As quickly as he could blink, he was off. He moved ahead to the first target, slashing it several times with his tanto, stabbing and slashing vital areas and trying to use his wind chakra to help with the blade, though to no avail. He ran up the dummy, kicked off of it, did a back-flip and ended up behind the two that were behind him, attacking one with his tanto as he kicked the other one in the head, before turning back with the tanto again and throwing it at the target he had just kicked. He jumped through the air as the tanto impaled itself in the "head" of its target, quickly pulling the tanto free and moving once again to attack another target.

It didn't take him long to "dispatch" all of his targets, tiring him out a little but not as much as he wanted for his training session. He couldn't help but notice a rustling in the background up in the leaves of the trees and as he looked out he was forced to jump out of the way as three kunai were hurled at him. Each one missed and stuck into the ground where they struck. He swung back through as quickly as he could and scooped them up, quick in and quick out to be sure that he didn't leave himself opened to another attack. He quietly made his way back into the trees and tucked two of the Kunai into his belt, sheathing his tanto and preparing himself for battle.

"Well well, what do we have here? A young Konoha shinobi out by himself. This is a place where you can really get hurt, or even killed." The voice was gruff and filled with pain. Mitsuo looked around for the source of the voice and as soon as he took even a second to look another kunai flew towards him, which he dodged once more and began running through the trees, trying to get to a more ideal location. "Run, run, run little leaf, I will catch you!"

What have we gotten ourselves into this time, Nii-san? Why is this person trying to kill me? What did I do to him? He went from tree to tree, trying to make his way towards a nearby plain, being in the open would be a more ideal place for the young Sarutobi to fight the unknown assailant and he knew that if he had to battle in the trees he would never see his target. I don't know why but I seem to attract trouble, eh nii-san? What is it that makes people hate me?

When he finally made it to the edge of the plains he jumped up and waited, climbing the tallest tree he could while quickly and quietly signing and saying "Bunshin no Jutsu" making a clone to jump out of the tree, and then also quickly signing and saying "Futon: Nagare" blowing behind the clone to make it appear as if his speed caused the leaves to fly off of the trees. Most experienced shinobi wouldn't fall for such a trick, but Mitsuo had a feeling this shinobi wasn't experienced.

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When he saw the shinobi perched on a branch below him he couldn't help but smile to himself, putting his hands together into a bird seal and allowing his wind chakra to build in his mouth into 5 different bullets, looking down at his opponent before releasing his technique and shooting 5 wind bullets at the target, each of them hitting him and the last one knocking him from his perch and into the clearing.

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Mitsuo moved to hurl one of the Kunai hat had been thrown at him earlier on, watching as the Shinobi rolled aside to dodge it. He jumped down and pulled the second one, throwing it at a closer range this time where he would not be able to dodge but the shinobi quickly signed and summoned a rock wall from the ground.

Earth style eh? I don't think I've ever fought against one of them before nii-san. I don't know what I should do.

Mitsuo looked to the side and moved to jump back into the trees for a second just enough to get his feet planted onto a sturdy branch before quickly drawing his tanto and launching himself over the wall of rock, his tanto hand pushing him off of the top of the structure as his  free hand throws the last kunai that he had picked up, sticking it in the shinobi's hand. He yelled out in his pained voice and Mitsuo got a look at him for the first time.

His hair was long and brown, tied back in a ponytail and on his forehead was the unmistakable headband of an Iwa shinobi. He was young, perhaps just a couple years older than Mitsuo, his thin face partly covered by bandages on one side and his left eye completely hidden. His long nose looked as though it had been broken and he had a large scar on his right cheek. He was dressed head to toe in standard Iwa clothing, minus the flak jacket of course. His left hand was bleeding and he took a second to bandage it.

Mitsuo began seeing red as soon as he sees the Iwa headband, remembering hearing about how shinobi from the Iwa clan had brutally murdered his mother. He clenched his one fist and yelled angrily, charging at him with his tanto forward, slashing quickly and angrily, striking nothing but shallow cuts in places that were non lethal targets, wanting to make his opponent hurt, to make him feel Mitsuo's pain.

"You IWA BASTARD! You killed my OKASAMA!" He continued to strike, the Iwa shinobi trying to sign but having difficulties with it, eventually creating an earth shield on his hand that he would try to bring up to block Mitsuo's quick blows. He managed to block a few but most would either chip off pieces of the shield or go right past it.

Mitsuo was tiring quickly, knowing that when he gets this angry it is difficult for him to fight for long periods of time as he finds it difficult to control his movements. He was afraid the Iwa shinobi would pick up on this and was right to think as such. When he had finally tired out he had to jump back as the Iwa-nin used another earth style move to make a pillar rise from the ground at the position Mitsuo was standing, managing to hit him square in the chest and launching him back. He crashed to the ground and felt as though one of his ribs had cracked, finally able to get a bit of control over his actions once again.

He stood up and winced slightly but his opponent wasn't going to give him time to recover, sending a charge through the ground and bringing another pillar to crash into his side, making him spiral again. The Iwa shinobi saw this and threw a few more kunai in Mitsuo's direction but Mitsuo had quickly performed a substitution jutsu, all of the kunai sticking into a log as Mitsuo struck with a kick from behind, knocking the Iwa shinobi to the ground. Mitsuo took a couple of the kunai that had been thrown at him earlier and threw them into the Iwa nin's calfs, making it excruciatingly painful to stand. He then stepped back and preformed the signs that his father had taught him all of those years ago, feeling the fire chakra build in his throat as he released a gas into the air at the Iwa-nin.

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He looked down at the personification of his hatred and pulled out his lighter, quickly putting a smoke between his lips and inhaling deeply, the smoke centering him once more before he exhaled and quietly and forcefully said, "Die, Iwa-scum." Mitsuo tossed the lit cigarette into the cloud of explosive gas and torched the Iwa-nin where he laid, hearing the screams of his target as he burned alive. When the fire cleared down he moved in to finish off the Iwa-nin with his tanto, stabbing him through the heart and giving him a death better than anything he deserved.

Mitsuo searched the body, not finding any useful information but deciding to take it back to his village anyway, in case it could be used for something. He realized that this was the first real fight he had been in since his brother had died and, more importantly, that this was the first shinobi he had ever killed. The thought made him a little sick and he kept himself from throwing up as he dragged the Iwa-nin's corpse back to the leaf.

I don't want that to happen to me again Nii-san, I completely lost control. All I wanted to do was carve his heart out and shove it down his throat for what he did to Okasama, but I know she wouldn't have wanted that. I don't know what's wrong with me, why I can't control my anger sometimes. He shook his head and then thought of the people he had to help him and smiled a little, lighting another smoke and inhaling deeply. It's a good thing I've got Otosama and Takeshi-sensei to teach me. I really hope that I can get a grip on my anger and I believe that with his help I will be able too.

Mitsuo made his way back to the village with new determination and truly believing that he had learned something today, a lesson that would stay with him and haunt him for the rest of his shinobi life.

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